Please excuse me for going off topic. But I feel compelled to draw attention to an article that I found in The Atlantic, "Supreme Betrayal" by Judge J. Michael Luttig and Professor Lawrence H. Tribe, which was published on March 14. I invite Bulwark readers to take a 20 minute break from the Bulwark and slide over to The Atlantic to read their critique of the Supreme Court's Trump v. Anderson decision See: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/supreme-court-trump-v-anderson-fourteenth-amendment/677755/
If anyone can refute or even argue convincingly against Luttig's and Tribe's arguments please post it here. I would relish very much to read convincing counter-arguments and challenges to their reasoning.
Of course, I cannot add anything to Luttig's and Tribe's critique. But I do wonder if the Supreme Court may have been, in part, motivated by fear - and understandably so. I am reminded of a popular film that is now in our movie theaters across the country and a line from it: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration..." For those who are not beguiled and who have not succumbed to deranged propaganda, or for those who are not ruled by fear of what may come from applying the law plainly, the facts and the law were plain to see. I marvel at how many elegant articulations and turns of phrase have been used to strain out gnats in order to swallow a camel. It is safe to assume that Trump will bring us more violence when his will is thwarted by the rule of law and the Constitution - as will inevitably happen because he has been at war with those things for many years. The question is when to face that violence: Sooner or Later? And everyone involved thus far, including the Senate and the Supreme Court, who have been confronted with that question have answered it apparently under the influence of fear rather than under the influence of truth, courage and logic which are necessary if we are to have rule of law and a Constitution.
Why was whether or not Trump can be bought even a question? Of course he can be bought. He's transactional, remember? Putin and his cronies bought him by financing his projects through whomever. The Saudis bought him as well by financing his projects. The man is totally bought and therefore cannot be trusted.
My favorite meme this week was that now that Trump has control of the RNC, Republicans down ticket will finally get to see first hand how "trickle down" theory actually works. I got a really good laugh out of that.
I have been rereading Roman philosophers today and stumbled across this passage from Cicero’s essay on old age. Given that this is one of the themes of the election and one addressed by Bill Kristol, I thought he might enjoy it, as I, a fellow oldster, did.:
“There is therefore nothing in the arguments of those who say that old age takes no part in public business. They are like men who would say that a steersman does nothing in sailing a ship, because while some of the crew are climbing the masts, others hurrying up and down the gangways, others pumping out the bilge water, he sits quietly in the stern holding the tiller. He does not do what young men do; nevertheless he does what is much more important and better.”
How is it legal for campaign donations be used to pay Trump's legal bills? Please help me to understand. Also I have no sympathy for Ronna. She manipuleted the party rules to favor Trump from the getgo.
I'm still not at all sure Trump will be able to raise the cash to satisfy his NY-fraud bond--perennial, cash-strapped failers like Trump always, *always* leverage real estate holdings to the hilt and beyond with various loan institutions, Chubb included, no matter which oligarch has guaranteed his paper--and this latest TikTok about-face is symptomatic of negative cash-flow issues rapidly entering the death-spiral stage of the shorts.
I find Trump's current financial dilemma deliciously karmic, but its implications for the country, should he win the presidency this November, make my stomach turn and my heart skip beats. On balance, I believe I'll do better without the schadenfreude-sugar and satisfy my hunger for payback with the lean, dripping-red meat of justice served. May his banks do the things banks do best, collect what they can in stripping him before the world of every vestige of cover, and let him find out, up-close and personal, what it's like for ordinary Americans who can't pay lawyers millions to torque the legal system in their favor.
DJT taking over the RNC? But of course. He no longer has daddy around to prop him up like in his casino days when daddy dropped him a $3 million lifeline in a chip buy at his faltering casino. Now the RNC is his piggy bank.
I believe it is truly impossible to fathom the depth and degree of delusion suffered by Trump and his followers. Something like a black hole swallowing up reason and reality.
Trump is easy to explain: He's a malignant narcissist, a psychopath.
What's harder to explain is the people who revere him -- or at least keep insisting that whatever his imperfections, he's never as bad as his critics are.
I agree with Tim about the gnashing by ultra libs about Biden's use of "illegal" to describe the alleged killer and the resulting fallout from his apology.
It’s no news that Trump “can be bought.” Who is guaranteeing the bond posted in the 90 million civil NY case of EJ Carrol? A division of Chubb Insurance fronted the money - but what guarantees were given for that money and by whom were those guarantees made? Trump? I bet not. The American voters deserve to know to whom Trump is now beholden in that regard. The same will go for the half a billion or so that he will owe in the NYS fraud case. We need to know to whom Trump is beholden for more than a billion dollars. The fact that he likely owes money, and probably plenty of it, to some rather unscrutable or shady people is something we need to know before we land up with a repeat presidential (used rather loosely to describe his time in office from 2016-2020) performance from this crooked, clearly ‘blackmail-able’, individual.
Trump has no real loyalties; Trump has no real principles, Trump has no real ethics. Trump is for Trump and he’d gladly throw ANYONE in front the bus to save himself.
Can we all just give our girl, Sarah Longwell, a shoutout! Watching those testimonials of past Trump supporters is powerful!
The most bizarre thing to me through this whole awful episode is that so many ostensibly smart, successful people have been unable to recognize -- or perhaps just unwilling to acknowledge -- the most obvious fact about Trump: his aggressively self-centered worldview.
People who aren't stupid insist that he truly, deeply "loves America'" and is genuinely committed to "saving civilization" (!), or standing up for "average Americans" - after spending his life striving to be acknowledged as richer and better than all others.
It's partly a massive failure of discernment, partly an effort to be cleverly contrarian, and partly a product of hostility to "the other side," which now includes everyone from their own side who didn't drink the Kool-Aid.
I think this is truly the heart of the matter. All policies for Trump are dictated by personal interest. Democracy itself, as we have seen. Covid, evaluated not on the basis of reality, but on how to construct it to diminish its apparent impact on Trump’s reputation. Putin presumably based on financial opportunities, ditto Saudi Arabia. Ukraine for getting him impeached. NATO because European leaders wouldn’t kowtow. No policy has anything to do with anything other than what serves his interest.
Please excuse me for going off topic. But I feel compelled to draw attention to an article that I found in The Atlantic, "Supreme Betrayal" by Judge J. Michael Luttig and Professor Lawrence H. Tribe, which was published on March 14. I invite Bulwark readers to take a 20 minute break from the Bulwark and slide over to The Atlantic to read their critique of the Supreme Court's Trump v. Anderson decision See: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/supreme-court-trump-v-anderson-fourteenth-amendment/677755/
If anyone can refute or even argue convincingly against Luttig's and Tribe's arguments please post it here. I would relish very much to read convincing counter-arguments and challenges to their reasoning.
Of course, I cannot add anything to Luttig's and Tribe's critique. But I do wonder if the Supreme Court may have been, in part, motivated by fear - and understandably so. I am reminded of a popular film that is now in our movie theaters across the country and a line from it: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration..." For those who are not beguiled and who have not succumbed to deranged propaganda, or for those who are not ruled by fear of what may come from applying the law plainly, the facts and the law were plain to see. I marvel at how many elegant articulations and turns of phrase have been used to strain out gnats in order to swallow a camel. It is safe to assume that Trump will bring us more violence when his will is thwarted by the rule of law and the Constitution - as will inevitably happen because he has been at war with those things for many years. The question is when to face that violence: Sooner or Later? And everyone involved thus far, including the Senate and the Supreme Court, who have been confronted with that question have answered it apparently under the influence of fear rather than under the influence of truth, courage and logic which are necessary if we are to have rule of law and a Constitution.
Why was whether or not Trump can be bought even a question? Of course he can be bought. He's transactional, remember? Putin and his cronies bought him by financing his projects through whomever. The Saudis bought him as well by financing his projects. The man is totally bought and therefore cannot be trusted.
My favorite meme this week was that now that Trump has control of the RNC, Republicans down ticket will finally get to see first hand how "trickle down" theory actually works. I got a really good laugh out of that.
I have been rereading Roman philosophers today and stumbled across this passage from Cicero’s essay on old age. Given that this is one of the themes of the election and one addressed by Bill Kristol, I thought he might enjoy it, as I, a fellow oldster, did.:
“There is therefore nothing in the arguments of those who say that old age takes no part in public business. They are like men who would say that a steersman does nothing in sailing a ship, because while some of the crew are climbing the masts, others hurrying up and down the gangways, others pumping out the bilge water, he sits quietly in the stern holding the tiller. He does not do what young men do; nevertheless he does what is much more important and better.”
How is it legal for campaign donations be used to pay Trump's legal bills? Please help me to understand. Also I have no sympathy for Ronna. She manipuleted the party rules to favor Trump from the getgo.
Spread the word of and about Never Again Trumpers!
https://decencyandsense.substack.com/p/never-again-trumpers
Tell me how I can help RVAT
https://rvat.org/ Also https://www.ra-pac.org/
I'm still not at all sure Trump will be able to raise the cash to satisfy his NY-fraud bond--perennial, cash-strapped failers like Trump always, *always* leverage real estate holdings to the hilt and beyond with various loan institutions, Chubb included, no matter which oligarch has guaranteed his paper--and this latest TikTok about-face is symptomatic of negative cash-flow issues rapidly entering the death-spiral stage of the shorts.
I find Trump's current financial dilemma deliciously karmic, but its implications for the country, should he win the presidency this November, make my stomach turn and my heart skip beats. On balance, I believe I'll do better without the schadenfreude-sugar and satisfy my hunger for payback with the lean, dripping-red meat of justice served. May his banks do the things banks do best, collect what they can in stripping him before the world of every vestige of cover, and let him find out, up-close and personal, what it's like for ordinary Americans who can't pay lawyers millions to torque the legal system in their favor.
God bless America. Vote Blue.
And thank goodness for that. Castro (Texas) also made comments.
Trump sure has a big presence on the "Enemy of the People" facebook.
DJT taking over the RNC? But of course. He no longer has daddy around to prop him up like in his casino days when daddy dropped him a $3 million lifeline in a chip buy at his faltering casino. Now the RNC is his piggy bank.
I believe it is truly impossible to fathom the depth and degree of delusion suffered by Trump and his followers. Something like a black hole swallowing up reason and reality.
Trump is easy to explain: He's a malignant narcissist, a psychopath.
What's harder to explain is the people who revere him -- or at least keep insisting that whatever his imperfections, he's never as bad as his critics are.
In other news: Water is wet.
I agree with Tim about the gnashing by ultra libs about Biden's use of "illegal" to describe the alleged killer and the resulting fallout from his apology.
It’s no news that Trump “can be bought.” Who is guaranteeing the bond posted in the 90 million civil NY case of EJ Carrol? A division of Chubb Insurance fronted the money - but what guarantees were given for that money and by whom were those guarantees made? Trump? I bet not. The American voters deserve to know to whom Trump is now beholden in that regard. The same will go for the half a billion or so that he will owe in the NYS fraud case. We need to know to whom Trump is beholden for more than a billion dollars. The fact that he likely owes money, and probably plenty of it, to some rather unscrutable or shady people is something we need to know before we land up with a repeat presidential (used rather loosely to describe his time in office from 2016-2020) performance from this crooked, clearly ‘blackmail-able’, individual.
Trump has no real loyalties; Trump has no real principles, Trump has no real ethics. Trump is for Trump and he’d gladly throw ANYONE in front the bus to save himself.
Can we all just give our girl, Sarah Longwell, a shoutout! Watching those testimonials of past Trump supporters is powerful!
The most bizarre thing to me through this whole awful episode is that so many ostensibly smart, successful people have been unable to recognize -- or perhaps just unwilling to acknowledge -- the most obvious fact about Trump: his aggressively self-centered worldview.
People who aren't stupid insist that he truly, deeply "loves America'" and is genuinely committed to "saving civilization" (!), or standing up for "average Americans" - after spending his life striving to be acknowledged as richer and better than all others.
It's partly a massive failure of discernment, partly an effort to be cleverly contrarian, and partly a product of hostility to "the other side," which now includes everyone from their own side who didn't drink the Kool-Aid.
Agreed…I also think it’s partly the distorted religious belief that Trump is the imperfect vessel meant to “save” the people. It’s just so bizarre.
I think this is truly the heart of the matter. All policies for Trump are dictated by personal interest. Democracy itself, as we have seen. Covid, evaluated not on the basis of reality, but on how to construct it to diminish its apparent impact on Trump’s reputation. Putin presumably based on financial opportunities, ditto Saudi Arabia. Ukraine for getting him impeached. NATO because European leaders wouldn’t kowtow. No policy has anything to do with anything other than what serves his interest.